


Its Own Reward

by captainraz



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Inspired by the 2017 Emmy's, Only I'm like five months late, Random Fluff, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-08
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-31 03:03:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12666939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainraz/pseuds/captainraz
Summary: Holtz is nominated for an engineering award. A slip of the tongue during the ceremony gets her into trouble, or does it?





	Its Own Reward

Holtzmann was fidgety.

Not that there was anything unusual about that; Holtz was full of energy that could not be adequately contained in her tiny body. Hence the dancing round the lab with blowtorches, which Erin had many safety concerns about and didn’t find hot at all, no ma’am.

This was different. This time Holtz was fidgeting because of nerves.

One of their many fans had nominated Holtz for some prestigious engineering award for her work on the hollow laser and the proton packs. And of course she’d made the finalists. Holtz was surprised but not the rest of the Ghostbuster. They knew _exactly_ how brilliant she was.

So now they were all dressed up in their glad rags to attend the ceremony, and Holtz’s leg was bouncing with nerves, no matter what she said about it being part of her exercise routine.

“Holtz, relax” Erin said, placing a hand on the engineer’s knee. It did nothing to stop the bouncing. “You’ll do brilliantly. I know you will.”

“Not good at these kinds of shindigs, Gilbert,” Holtz replied, sliding even further down in her chair. It was a wonder she wasn’t on the floor by this point, but then her ability to defy the laws of physics wasn’t limited to just her hair and the machines she built.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Erin scoffed, remembering the dozens of events like this she’d had to attend over the years. She’d never been a huge fan of them either, but the worst thing she’d ever done was knock champagne over the guest of honour, and she was literally the most awkward person she’d ever met.

“I put a man in a coma,” Holtz reminded Erin, her bouncing continuing unabated despite the hand on her thigh. Erin didn’t remove her hand.

“Not at an awards ceremony.”

“Well, no. But this whole academia thing? Not really my bag.”

“Shhhhh,” said some random woman in the row ahead, frowning hard enough it was a wonder her face hadn’t caved in.

Holtz sank even lower in her chair, her leg bouncing harder than ever.

“Shush yourself,” Erin shot back, angry at this person for potentially making her friend feel bad. It wasn’t like anything important was happening at that moment; some middle-aged white dude  
was rambling on about his own accomplishments and Erin had spent enough time in academia to know that one self-important white dude was much the same as any other. And that his accomplishments were nowhere near as impressive as he thought they were.

“You got this Holtzy,” Patty whispered from Erin’s other side. I believe in you."

“Shhhhhhhh!” The sound was louder and longer this time, the irritation clear. Honestly the woman who kept doing that was making more noise than they were.

“Man y’all white people need to chill,” Patty said, unfazed by the attempted censure. “Go get some hors d’oeuvres from the buffet table or something.”

The woman tutted but didn’t shush them again.

“Hey, this is Holtzmann’s category,” Abby said, sitting straighter in her seat. Erin and Patty followed, watching the stage with rapt attention. Holtz sank so low in her chair that only her shoulders were still touching the seat.

The person in the stage gave the name of the award which was for significant contributions to advancing engineering, and the list of nominees. When Holtzmann’s name was read out three quarters of the Ghostbusters erupted with applause and whoops, much to the disgust of the Shushing Woman.

“And the award goes to…”

“Oh I can’t look,” Abby said, covering her eyes.

“Baby that won’t help,” Patty said.

“Doctor Jillian Holtzmann, for her work on the hollow laser and its application to the newly founded field of paranormal studies.”

The hall erupted in cheers and applause that was more enthusiastic than anyone else had received. Holtz remained in her chair, looking stunned.

“Baby you won!” Patty all but yelled.

“You gotta go do your speech now,” Abby added.

“Come on,” Erin said with a soft smile as she helped Holtz upright. “Go get ’em tiger.”

Holtz appeared a little dazed as she made her way up to the podium. She shook hands with the announcer and took the award before stepping in front of the mic with a glassy look in her eyes.

“Uh, hi,” she said before clearing her throat. “Never won anything like this so I’m not really sure what to do.” She pulled her speech out of her waistcoat pocket (the one Patty had forced her to write) and glanced at it before continuing. “First up I need to thank Doctor Rebecca Gorin, who taught me everything I know about engineering and who has stopped me from blowing myself up about twenty times. I literally wouldn’t be here without her.

“Thank you to the Kenneth P Higgins Institute for science for ignoring our work for so long before kicking us out. I also want to thank my fellow Ghostbusters. Abby, Patty, you are the sisters I never had, and it is an absolute pleasure to get to be part of your lives. Thank you Erin, I love you. And thank you to my children, Marie, Rosalind, Hedy and Mae, you’re the best chinchillas ever. And thank you all for being here and for giving me this award. This is at least as cool and five times as scary as getting my doctorate. Holtz out.”

She left the stage to rapturous applause but Erin didn’t join in. She couldn’t move, too busy being stunned by the last five minutes.

“Did that really happen?” she asked, leaning towards Abby and Patty to make herself heard.

“Yeah it did!” Abby yelled happily. “Our Holtzy won an award.”

“No that wasn’t–” Erin started, but then Holtz was sliding back into her seat with her award, a slightly dazed look on her face.

“Congratulations baby,” Patty said with a wide grin.

“I knew you could do it Holtz,” Abby gushed, and it was then that Erin realised that no one else had noticed. Everyone was acting normal, and not at all like Holtz had just casually dropped the biggest bombshell ever. Erin felt like her whole world had turned upside down and no one else had noticed anything strange. Even Holtz herself was loosening up now she was back with her friends, grinning easily, like she hadn’t a care in the world.

“Congratulations Holtz,” Erin said softly. If her voice was a bit off, no one commented on it. No one commented that anything seemed off all evening until Erin wondered if she’d imagined it all.

*

The feeling followed Erin until the next day, when she checked the Ghostbusters’ social media channels. She’d been expecting a few extra hits and comments after Patty had announced Holtz’s award win, but she was not expecting the sheer volume that was there.

Every single feed they ran was blowing up. Comments and likes and clicks were coming in faster than Erin’s eyes could keep up.

She couldn’t understand it. Why were all these people talking about them? Erin was proud of Holtz for her success, of course she was, but surely _this_ many people couldn’t be excited about an engineering award?

There was only one thing for it. She dove in.

Erin quickly discovered that someone had filmed the speech Holtzmann had given and put it online. Ghostbusters fans had quickly latched onto this and shared it. Her heart was in her throat as she realised that she hadn’t imagined a thing last night; Holtz had indeed casually declared her love for Erin in front of a few hundred strangers. A love clearly in a separate category to the love she had for Abby and Patty.

And their fans had noticed.

“Are Doctor Holtzmann and Doctor Gilbert dating?” one excited fan wanted to know.

“Called it!” another declared.

“OMG yes! my ship is canon #holtzbert #truelove” yet another commenter added. Erin didn’t understand what a ship or a holtzbert was, so she clicked the link. And quickly found out.

Apparently a lot of their fans thought Erin and Holtz were secretly in love. Or at least thought they should be together. And had been making Photoshopped pictures and videos and playlists and writing stories about them. For a while. Almost since the Ghostbusters first formed.

And they were all utterly delighted by the revelations from the previous night.

Erin was stunned. This was not something she could ever have prepared for. And she thought she’d been _so_ careful in concealing her little crush. Apparently not, since it had been obvious to a bunch of strangers. There was no way Abby and Patty hadn’t noticed. And Holtz–

“What you doing hot stuff?” the woman in question said suddenly, flopping down on the couch next to Erin.

Panic surged through Erin and she slammed her laptop shut. “Nothing!” she said, attempting to look casual and innocent and in no way managing it.

“Uh huh,” Holtz said, narrowing her eyes, having seen though Erin’s terrible attempt at nonchalance.

She felt her face heat. Might as well come clean. “All right,” she said reluctantly. “I was checking our online presence if you must know.”

Holtz grinned, a mischievous look in her eyes. “Googling yourself again Gilbert? Don’t worry, I won’t tell the others.”

“No! That’s not what– argh,” she groaned. It was no use. The more she protested the more convinced Holtz would be that that was what she was doing. “Fine.”

Holtz threw her arms up in the air in victory but stopped teasing at least.

“Actually,” Erin said after a few moments spent in silence. “I was looking at our social media feeds. There are lots of people who want to congratulate you on you award.”

“Yeah?” Holtz asked, raising her eyebrows. “I haven’t looked. Didn’t think many people would care about a boring engineering award.”

“Well they do. They care because _you_ won Holtz. You’ve got a lot of fans out there.”

Holtz’s cheeks went pink, and she ducked her head slightly. “Aww shucks Erin. You sure know how to flatter a girl.”

Erin fidgeted with the hem of her shirt for a moment, letting Holtz stew in her mild embarrassment for while she considered the situation. Should she tell Holtz about what she’d found? Surely she had a right to know what people were saying about them on the internet. She’d probably find out eventually, and if she learned Erin had known and not told her…

Plus Erin wanted to know if there was anything behind Holtz’s slip during the awards ceremony, if her crush might actually be reciprocated.

“Holtz?” she said slowly.

“Mmmm?”

“Do you actually remember what you said last night? During your speech?”

“Sure I do,” she replied confidently.

“What did you say then?”

“Uh, I thanked Gorin for being a boss-ass mentor, and Higgins for letting me blow shit up for so long without kicking me out. Then I thanked you and Patty and Abby for being the best family I could ask for. Then I thanked my kids,” she finished with a grin. “Gotta love those fuzzy scamps.”

Erin’s heart was beating wildly in her chest. “Yeah that’s almost how it went.”

Holtz cocked her head to the side, puzzled. “What do you mean? I remember very clearly that’s how it went.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t,” Erin said, fumbling with her words. “Maybe it would be best… just watch.” she opened her laptop, navigated quickly to the video and pressed play.

At first Holtz was relaxed watching herself on the screen, even chuckling a little at her own awkwardness. She nodded along as she thanked various people, the video apparently matching up with her memory. Then came the part where she thanked the Ghostbusters. Where she placed Erin in a separate category to the others and essentially declared her love for her.

Holtz’s jaw dropped and all the colour drained out of her face. “Erin…” she choked as the video came to an end.

“People noticed,” Erin said, somehow keeping her voice level although it felt like her chest would explode. “It’s all over our social media that we’re dating.”

“Erin…” Holtz said in a small voice. Her face was still pale, and she looked absolutely terrified. “I am _so_ sorry. I never– I never meant–”

“Did you mean it?” Erin asked softly, not meeting her gaze. “Did you mean it when you said you loved me?”

“Yes,” Holtz said, barely out loud.

“And you don’t mean you love me as a sister, but as something… else?”

“Yes,” Holtz said with a shaky sigh.

“Good.”

Erin surged forwards, cupping Holtz’s face in her hands and pulling her in for a kiss. Holtz froze at first, but only for a moment. Then she was kissing Erin back, hard, and it was everything Erin had hoped her first kiss with Holtz might be.

It was perfect.

Holtz pulled back, her eyes wide and a smile tugging at the corners if her mouth. “So, you’re not mad?”

Erin smiled. “No, I’m not mad. I mean, I kinda have a massive crush on you too.”

“You do?” Holtz said, her eyes comically wide.

“Yeah. I wasn’t as subtle as I thought about it either. Apparently it’s about time we git together, people have been ‘shipping’ us for ages.”

Holtz frowned. “What’s shipping?”

“I’ll show you later,” Erin said, laughing. “Right now I want to do more of this.” She pulled Holtz in for another kiss, softer and sweeter than the first.

“I like the way you think Doctor Gilbert,” Holtz said in between kisses.

A thought occurred to Erin, and she pulled her mouth from Holtz’s. Holtz made a noise of protest. “Just to make sure,” Erin said, “we _are_ dating now, right?”

“Yeah. If you want us to be dating, then we are.”

“Oh good,” Erin said, sinking back into Holtz’s embrace. “I’d hate to have to tell someone on the internet they’re wrong.”

Holtz laughed. “Yeah that would be terrible.”

“Shut up!”

“You love me really.”

“Yeah, I think I might do,” Erin said with a small smile. Holtz mouthed score and threw her fist up on the air. “Dork,” Erin said laughing. “Kiss me.”

“With pleasure, Doctor Gilbert. With pleasure.”

*

_One year later_

Another year, another awards ceremony.

Holtz had been nominated for her miniature synchrotron, which apparently had exciting potential medical applications. She was the favourite to win, and not just in the opinion of her girlfriend.

That didn’t stop her from being nervous though. Her leg was still bouncing up and down, but this time Erin got to place her hand on Holtz’s knee and leave it there.

It still sent a thrill of pleasure down her spine, even after a whole year.

“You’ll do great,” Erin said. “I know you will.”

Holtz just gave her a tight smile and carried on bouncing her leg. Erin wasn’t entirely sure why Holtz was so nervous; she’d knocked it out of the park the previous year, and while there had been a small misunderstanding, it had led to them getting together. At least she wasn’t slumped so far down in her chair she was practically falling out of it.

The category Holtz was in was read out, and to no one’s surprise, she won. Erin cheered extra loud for her girlfriend as she headed up to the podium.

“S’up?” Holtz said into the microphone, grinning as she pulled her speech out of her jacket. Clearly she was more comfortable on stage this time round. “Thanks for this sweet award, it’s gonna look great next to the other one on my shelf.”

The crowd laughed and cheered in equal measure.

“Once again I want to thank my science mom, Doctor Rebecca Gorin, for teaching me how to make awesome poofs without setting myself on fire. Thank you to the city of New York for their totally secret funding of our work. Thanks to my fellow Ghostbusters; my sisters from other misters Abby and Patty, and to Erin Gilbert, love of my life, my future wife and excellent co-parent to our four fuzzy children, Marie, Rosalind, Hedy and Mae. See you all next year.”

Holtz signed off with her signature salute and sauntered back to her seat, award in hand. Erin, meanwhile, was frozen in place, unable to believe she’d just heard what she thought she had.

“Did you mean it?” she whispered fiercely as soon as Holtz was sat back down. “Or was it another accidental slip?” Erin’s heart was pounding nervously in her chest. She’d been thinking about the future a lot recently and if Holtz hadn’t meant it…

“Mean what babe?”

“What you said in your speech. That I was your future wife.”

“Oh yeah, totally meant that,” Holtz said, like it wasn’t something huge and life changing. “I did that on purpose.” She pulled a black velvet box out of one of her pockets. “So how about it? Wanna marry a genius nuclear engineer?”

Erin smiled in relief, lacing her fingers with Holtz’s fingers around the box that held their future. “Yeah. Yeah, I do,” she said, unable to keep the joy out of her voice. A couple of seats away Abby was making a high-pitched squealing noise, while Patty was just grinning.

“Good,” Holtz said, smiling wider than Erin had ever seen her smile before. “Cos our fans are definitely gonna notice what I said, and I’d hate to let them down.”

“Ass,” Erin said, giving Holtz a shove.

“I’m your ass though,” Holtz said, her voice turning the tiniest bit dopey.

“Shhhhh,” came a voice from the row in front. It was the same damned woman as last year.

“Don’t you shush my _fiancée_ ,” Erin said sharply. “She just won an award.”

The woman tutted and buried her face in the program.

Holtz, meanwhile, was looking at Erin as though she’d hung the moon and the stars. “I love you, Doctor Erin Gilbert.”

“I love you too, Doctor Jillian Holtzmann. That better be some sweet bling in there,” she said, squeezing the jewellery box she had yet to open.

“Oh it is,” Holtz assured her. “What do you think I spent the award money on?” she said with a grin.

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you,” Erin said, snuggling into Holtz’s side.

Holtz pressed a kiss to the top of Erin’s head. “Me either,” she said. “Me either.”

*

The next day they posted a single picture to their social media accounts. Erin and Holtz holding hands after the awards ceremony. They were both grinning wildly, and the ring was clearly visible on Erin’s finger.

The caption read simply: I liked it so I put a ring on it #GaybustersWedding #holtzbert #truelove.

**Author's Note:**

> Come hang out with me online: 
> 
> Twitter: @captainraz  
> Website: racheltonkshill.com


End file.
